I generally try to shop close to home — the farm stands on Silverton Road are my newest favorite haunt — but I can’t help driving the 35 minutes to the Lake Oswego Trader Joe’s to get the items you can buy cheaper there: brie, Tasty Bite Indian, pine nuts, real dark chocolate.
But whatever you do, DO NOT GO AT 3:00 p.m. on a Thursday. That’s when all of Lake Oswego’s little old ladies in their long coats and $100 haircuts flood the story for a lean, mean event of grocery cart derby. Yesterday, I got edged out of produce by a woman making a beeline for the packaged endive and another holding her ground — for ten minutes!–equivocating over parsley (“But my recipe calls for flat parsley, is this parsley flat?”).
Or, if you’re a fan like me, you can join the growing legions of Salemites who are signing petitions to bring Trader Joe’s to Salem. According to a recent news report a move to Salem is unlikely for the high-end food specialty store. But you can’t ignore the madding crowd for long. Word on the street is that the Lake Oswego site is expanding into the space next door (former furniture store) next May.
I agree, we need a Trader Joes desperately here in Salem. My comment to them was, “Build it, and we will come. Weekly!”
Love your description of the trip to Trader Joe’s — I hear there are no plans for Trader Joe’s to be coming our way for several years — time to start shopping on Tuesdays when it’s safe!
I’d rather buy local products then food from India or where ever T.J. gets their food.
What Salem needs is a “Local Larry’s”. Trader Joe’s can stay in Portland and L.A. Plus their packaging is way too small. I love Costco.
[...] been one of those people campaigning for a Trader Joe’s here in Salem. I too go over the moon for mini toasts, gaga for [...]